A Visit to the Icelandic Textile Museum

By Nancy Ebner

This past summer my husband and I traveled to Iceland for a 12-day self-guided tour around the famous Ring Road. We were drawn to Iceland by its amazing waterfalls, geo-thermal areas, mountains, surrounding seas, crater lakes, glaciers, and glacial lagoons. Its natural beauty did not disappoint! We also took in some of its cultural sites by visiting the Skógar Folk Museum, Skógasafn, along the southern coast, the Herring Era Museum in Siglufjörõur, the Iceland Textile Museum in Blönduós, northwestern Iceland and the Snorrastofa Cultural Center in Reykholt.

The Skógar Folk Museum was a treasure of artifacts, some of which included lovely examples of pieces from the 1800s woven in monk’s belt and glit techniques . (See this previous article on the Icelandic glit technique.)

Saddle blanket made by Sigridur Jónsdóttir in Svartinúpur in the year 1859.

The Iceland Textile Museum (next to the Icelandic Textile Center) houses several permanent exhibits: Icelandic national costume; embroidery (primarily white on white); the role of wool in Iceland from early settlers to the present day; and a section based on the life and work of Halldóra Bjarnadóttir (1873-1981). Halldóra Bjarnadóttir was a teacher and was active in writing and speaking about women’s rights. She promoted women’s unions based on the work women did in their homes to produce wool into clothing. In 1946 she founded a wool and textile college and ran the school for nine years.

White on white embroidery display.

Each year the museum hosts special exhibitions by Icelandic textile artists and designers. I was able to view the work of Philippe Ricart, (1952-2021) who specialized in tablet weaving. He became a teacher at The Icelandic Handicraft School where he taught tablet weaving, tapestry, leather stitching and Haddock bone carving.

At the Icelandic Textile Museum, I purchased the Second Edition of Halldóra Bjarnadóttir’s book, Vefnadur [Textile], her 1966 fundamental book about weaving in Iceland. The preface and forward are in English, but the rest of the book is in Icelandic.

To finish, here are some of the beautiful works donning the walls of the museum. You should visit!

Detail of an Icelandic glit weaving.

October 2023

Nancy Ebner is a newly retired pharmacist from St. Louis Park, Minnesota, who learned to weave in earnest in 2017. She likes the process, the finished product and the math needed to operate the computer precursor: the loom. She has her next six projects planned, two of which include a skillbragd and a rutevev. There is a rich tradition of Scandinavian weaving in Minnesota, and she is drawn to its traditional designs and art weaves.

Help support wonderful articles on Scandinavian textiles with a donation to the Norwegian Textile Letter. Thank you! Tusen takk!

Spinning and Weaving in Iceland

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By Rebecca Mezoff

Editor’s Note: When Rebecca Mezoff, the well-known tapestry teacher and author of The Art of Tapestry Weaving, traveled to Iceland for a residency in 2022, I was envious. I followed her posts about sheep and tapestry weaving avidly. My favorite one was, “Myth and Fact: Yarn in the Grocery Store in Iceland.” Here is a taste of her experience.

Black beach in Iceland. Photo: Rebecca Mezoff

Icelandic sheep spend winters in the barn and summers in the Highlands. I can only imagine the long dark winters in the barn are quite the communal experience. And a summer unsupervised in the Highlands? That must be a romp in the long light-filled days, eating and wandering to their hearts content until fall calls them home. Then the farmers round up the ewes, sort them by farm, and bring them home to be shorn and spend another winter in the barn. That fall Icelandic fleece is what took me to the Icelandic Textile Center in Blonduos for a month of experimentation with spinning. That and a desire to experience the landscape of the north of Iceland.

Tapestry weft is most often wool and Icelandic sheep, being the hardy creatures they are, produce a long-staple dual-coated fleece that can be excellent for tapestry weaving. At the Textile Center I spent the month spinning and weaving this material in many different ways. I found it both frustrating and exhilarating as I struggled with hand spinning the dual coat, creating a variety of colors from the undyed fleeces I was working with, and observing the potential this wool had to produce luminous, though often hairy, yarns.

After spinning and spinning I wove some small tapestries inspired by the landscape using only Icelandic fiber. The horizons of Iceland called to me in the same way the open horizons of my home in the American Southwest do and those feelings found their way from the wandering sheep into the yarn I was making and then finally the tapestries. Maybe the Icelandic sheep and their long horizons will call me back to Iceland again before too long.

Rebecca Mezoff, March 2023
www.tapestryweaving.com
Read more about Rebecca’s Iceland adventure here.

Help support wonderful articles on Scandinavian textiles with a donation to the Norwegian Textile Letter. Thank you! Tusen takk!

Sharon Marquardt: Using Traditional Voss Rye Technique–to Depict Show Shoveling?

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By Robbie LaFleur

The Baldishol tapestry, woven around 1180.

In 2005 Sharon Marquardt attended a lecture by Marta Kløve Juuhl; it is reprinted in this issue, “Voss Ryer – Traditional Bedcover and Contemporary Art.” Sharon was intrigued by the technique. Fourteen years later she incorporated Voss rye into her remarkable entry in the exhibit at Norway House in Minneapolis, “The Baldishol: A Medieval Tapestry Inspires Contemporary Fiber Art.”

Sharon Marquardt, “Birthday Blizzard”

Sharon described how the Baldishol inspired her image.

When the exhibit was announced, entrants were encouraged to be creative. I employed the arch, name of the month, and figure from the Baldishol to use in my tapestry… A January blizzard in west-central Minnesota had blocked my doorway, so I had to shovel out. It’s also the month of my birthday; therefore the title “Birthday Blizzard.”

The image itself was clever, but the method she used to make it was amazing. Sharon Marquardt’s ongoing study of Norwegian weaving techniques laid the foundation for her weaving. Marta Kløve Juuhl was a important instructor and mentor in her weaving education.

Sharon Marquardt, Sampler of West Coast åkle techniques woven on a warp weighted loom.

In 2005 Sharon took a course on Western Norway åkle techniques on the warp weighted loom from Marta at Vesterheim Folk Art School. This is the (impeccable) sampler Sharon wove.

This class built on her skills learned in a workshop In 1999, when she studied Sámi grene weaving from instructors from the Manndalen Husflidslag in northern Norway. Classes were held at Vågan Folkehøgskole in Kabelvåg in the Lofoten Islands. Sharon’s grandmother came from the island of Andøya.

In 2006 Sharon joined a rya study group organized through The Norwegian Textile Letter. It was led by Judy Ness, a weaver and weaving instructor at the University of Oregon, with Marta Kløve Juuhl as a consultant. Sharon was interested in the Voss rye Marta described the previous year and reached out to Marta via email for tips. In 2007 when Marta was again teaching at Vesterheim, Sharon consulted with her in person. “I had woven what I thought was a Voss rya for a loom bench cover,” Sharon said, “but Marta tactfully informed me I had woven it completely wrong. She graciously gave me some tips and a copy of her instructions for a Voss coverlet.”

Marta Kløve Juuhl brought this Voss rye to the Conference on Norwegian Weaving in 2005.

icelandic varafeldur knot

In 2018 Sharon continued study with Marta when she took her class at Vesterheim, “Weaving Techniques for a Vararfell.” In this Icelandic pile weave, unspun locks are knotted into the woven base with a special knot. (More on the technique here.)

By the time Sharon created “Birthday Blizzard,” she used her broad skill set in a unique combination to depict an image inspired by the medieval Baldishol Tapestry. In particular, she used expertise she gained from Marta in two Norwegian techniques–Voss rye and the Icelandic varafell pile weave.

She used a Voss rye threading with rye knots for the snow and inner borders. Calling on her tapestry experience, she used inlay threads in various colors on her basketweave background to form the shapes. The weave structure enhanced texture in her forms. Look at the bark-like effect of the basketweave on the tree trunk. This detail includes her dog and snow-covered mailbox, too.

Sharon used 16/3 bleached linen at a sett of 20 ends per inch. The weft was Rauma prydvevgarn. She used several strands of Swedish faro singles or Norwegian brodergarn for the inlay. Some details were added with embroidery.

The deep, fuzzy outer frame is woven in Icelandic varafell technique. The locks were from sheep owned by Joana Friesz from New Salem, North Dakota.

Sharon’s work shows a broad leap of creativity and vision to adapt the Voss rye technique for a tapestry-like image. How wonderfully the background weave structure worked for her sweater!

Perhaps if someone asked her how long the weaving took, she could answer “Fourteen years”–the time since she first heard the Voss rye lecture.

When Marta Kløve Juuhl saw a photo of her student’s new work, she was clearly impressed. “Sharon’s piece is amazing,” Marta wrote. “She has transformed the rya technique into a piece of art, also including varafell technique on the edges!”

Sharon Marquardt: A Blizzard in Rya

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By Robbie LaFleur

“Birthday Blizzard” is Sharon Marquardt’s self-portrait in wool, inspired by the calendar aspect of the original Baldishol Tapestry. It is part of the upcoming exhibit at Norway House, The Baldishol: A Medieval Tapestry Inspires Contemporary Textiles. The Baldishol Tapestry, woven in the 12th century, portrays figures for the months of April and May–but what was happening in January? If you live in central Minnesota, as Sharon does, the answer is snow. In January 2020 a blizzard dropped door-blocking snowdrifts, and the banks were so deep and compacted that she had to purchase a snowblower to plow her sidewalk to the road.

Sharon Marquardt started weaving in the 1980s and taught weaving in Seattle before returning to her home state of Minnesota in the 1990s. Since then her focus has been on Scandinavian weaving techniques. She studied with master weaver Syvilla Bolson in Decorah, Iowa; has taken many courses at Vesterheim Folk Art School; and has studied weaving in Norway and Sweden.

She called this weaving a “creative exercise,” which is an understatement. It’s really an amazing combination of techniques that come together into a charming portrait.

The rya pile is knotted onto a twill threading. Sharon was using the technique she learned from Norwegian weaving instructor Marta Kløve Juuhl. In this type of Voss rya, the pile shows on one side, but the knots are completely hidden on the reverse side of the twill-woven base. (Read more about this weave structure in this article from the Norwegian Textile Letter, “Voss Ryer: Traditional Bedcover and Contemporary Art,” by Marta Kløve Juuhl, May 2006.) Here Sharon is sampling the background on her loom, woven at 20 ends per inch.

In the tapestry, the 16/3 bleached linen warp is exposed in the background weave structure. With the weft of Rauma prydvev yarn, it gives an effect of drizzle in the sky.

Sharon wrote about more of her experimentation:

Other creative techniques I tried included combining rya with inlay. The two pair together well, but here, the basket weave tended to bury the inlay, which I applied with a tapestry needle in between knotting rows. I like the way it emphasized the bark. I further embellished some areas with embroidery stitches.

Also, notice how the diamonds in the pattern on the right-hand tree trunk make marvelous bark.

Finally, look at the luxurious deep pile border, based on the Icelandic varafeldur, a traditional pile coverlet woven with pile from unspun locks. (See: “Varafeldur: An Icelandic Rya Reconstruction,” by Marta Kløve Juuhl, Norwegian Textile Letter, November 2013.) Sharon used locks from a Lincoln sheep, bought from Joana Friesz in New Salem, North Dakota.

The exhibit at Norway House opens on June 26. Follow along on the web page for the exhibit, “The Baldishol: A Medieval Tapestry Inspires Contemporary Tapestry, to learn of virtual events surrounding the exhibit.

Varafeldur: An Icelandic Rya Reconstruction

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By Marta Kløve Juuhl

This is a norrøn vararfeldur, the closest you can come to a rya in the Viking period. In Norwegian it’s called a gråfell (grey fleece).

It was woven in Iceland in November, 2010 by Hildur Hakonardottir from Iceland, Elizabeth Johnston from Shetland, and me. It is the first gråfell which has been made for more than 1000 years.

It is told in Snorre, the Norwegian kongesaga (king saga), that our king Harald Gråfell was in Hardanger with his men one summer (this must be just before year 1000), and there came an Icelandic ship loaded with vararfeldur which people did not want to buy. They gave one to the king, and he started wearing it. Suddenly the Icelanders got rid of all their gråfellar, and the king got his name. At that time this was a big export from Iceland, before the vadmål took over. In fact vadmål became a trade item later on.

Concerning our weaving, it all started in the summer of 2010. We had a class with weaving on a warp weighted loom at Osterøy museum where I work. Both Hildur and Elizabeth attended that class, among many other students, and I was the teacher. They set up a loom with vadmål.

During that week we found that the three of us had so much in common that we wanted to continue the work with this loom. So before they left we decided to meet in Iceland in November.

When we arrived at Hildur’s house at Selfoss, she had decided that we should try to set up a vararfeldur, which she had read about in the Icelandic legal text, Grågås. There it was strictly regulated how it should be made, 4 ells long and 2 ells wide and 13 knots with wool in each row. Hildur had also read somewhere about the technique, and from that we chose tabby.

Hildur Håkonardottir in Iceland. (Photo courtesy of Marta Kløve Juuhl)

The warp is white 2-‐ply yarn, double, and the weft is also double two-ply yarn, grey. We picked the yarn from what we thought would be the best quality for this. My experience from weaving åkle helped finding the weight of the stones for each thread. Hildur obtained some grey fleece; in fact we needed fleece from three sheep to finish this one. We used long fibres, only dekkhår. It took a long time to take away the underwool with carders.

In 2012 Hildur and Elizabeth came to Bergen and we set up a loom at the museum with Norwegian yarn (Hoelfeldt Lund strikkegarn) and wool from spelsau in Osterøy. So this vararfeldur is black and brown, very beautiful. We demonstrated weaving at the Osteroy Museum and at the Bjørgvin Viking market at Hordamuseet. This time we tied the knots in front of the loom. We decided that was best for demonstration purposes. It worked quite well, but we had to put an extra string across the piece to keep the wool away. It’s faster to weave with the knots on the back side.

The rya woven at Osterøy museum (Photo courtesy of Marta Kløve Juuhl)

In 2014 we hope to publish a book on the technique, written in a way that everybody can read it and use it when they want to set up a warp weighted loom.

A course was held at Osterøy Museum, where the varafeldur was used as inspiration. (Photo courtesy of Marta Kløve Juuhl)

Marta Kløve Juuhl taught weaving in the Norwegian Husflidsskole system for many years. She now works part-time at Østerøy museum, primarily with textiles, and also in her private studio. Her current commissions include bands for bunads and wall hangings for churches.

marta.klove.juuhl (at) gmail.com

Editor’s note: During the Vesterheim Textile Tour in June, 2011, Marta Kløve Juuhl joined the group for a day. She brought her varafeldur and discussed its creation. It was a magnetic object to all the fiber-crazy people on the bus; you could hardly keep from stretching your hands to feel the unspun locks of the coverlet.

Marta displays the varafeldur on the Vesterheim tour bus (Photo: Robbie LaFleur)

Here is the back.

Varafeldur detail (Photo: Robbie LaFleur)